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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: hand · bat · rule · board · fine · patient · pop · field

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. rule — government
  4. field — for sport
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. rule — a law
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. pop — music
  9. pop — soda
  10. field — farmland
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. hand — in cards
  14. fine — high quality
  15. board — to get on
  16. field — a subject
  17. bat — the animal
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. board — a committee
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. pop — to visit
  23. fine — all right
  24. fine — a penalty

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com